Residents of Washington D.C. have access to many experienced Social Security Disability lawyers. If you are a resident of Washington D.C. and can no longer work due to a disability or illness, an attorney can assist you through the disability benefit application process.
The Washington D.C. hearing office currently has 3,585 pending disability claims and the wait time has reached 354 days. While it can be frustrating to wait nearly a year to receive disability benefits, the residents of Washington D.C. often find disability benefits to be worth waiting for. As of December 2011, 13,456 individuals in Washington D.C were receiving SSDI and 14,960 individuals in Washington D.C. were receiving SSI.
You can find more information regarding SSI and SSDI by clicking here.
To initiate the Social Security Disability application process, applicants can choose to fill out an electronic application online, or they can fill out a hard copy in person at his or her local Social Security office. To fill out an application in person, you must call your local office to schedule an appointment with in advance. See below for a list of offices near you:
2100 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
Telephone; 1-800-772-1213
Postal Plaza SHPG CTR
1905-B 9th St NE
Washington, DC 20018
Telephone: 1-800-772-1213
Suite 130
2041 MLK Jr. Ave SE
Washington, DC 20020
Telephone: 1-800-772-1213
Consulting with a Washington D.C. Social Security Disability Attorney
If you feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable with the Social Security Disability application process, you should contact a Washington D.C. attorney or advocate. An attorney will be able to answer your questions and offer advice to get you the disability benefits you need. To learn about the benefits of hiring an attorney, click here.
A Washington D.C. Social Security Disability lawyer will also handle disability claims in the following cities located in Washington D.C., Fairfax County, VA, Montgomery County, MD, and Prince George's County, MD: Arlington, McLean, Langley, Annandale, Jefferson, Falls Church, Fairfax, Burke, Springfield, Mt. Vernon, Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, Chillum, Hyattsville, Bladensburg, Lanham-Seabrook, and Bowie. If you would like more information regarding the legal professionals in your area, contact a local bar association. Listed below you will find the bar associations in Washington D.C.:
District of Columbia Bar Association
1016 16th Street NE
Washington, DC 20036
District of Columbia Bar
1101 K Street NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Washington D.C. Disability Hearings
If you have been denied disability benefits during the initial or reconsideration stages of the process, you will need to request an appeal hearing to continue your pursuit of benefits. You can expect this hearing to be held at the Washington D.C. Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR). Below you will find a list of approval rates for the judges (ALJs) who hear disability claims in the Washington D.C. hearing office:
| ALJ | Approval Rate |
| Applewhite, Francine L. | 13.08% |
| Ayer, F.H. | 38.81% |
| Emerson, Andrew M. | 37.89 |
| Furcolo, Richard | 4.70% |
| Hannan, B. | 4.91% |
| Korval, Raghav | 36.89% |
| Kransnow, M. | 25.67% |
| Maley, Susan | 33.11% |
| Ray, Thomas M. | 54.45% |
*Data from http://www.ssa.gov/appeals/DataSets/03_ALJ_Disposition_Data.html
Many Washington D.C. attorneys and advocates are familiar with the administrative law judges who work in the local hearing office. They can often use this information to help you prepare your case successfully.
Occasionally, it will take a very long time for a claimant’s hearing scheduled. If you are suffering from financial or medical difficulties, you may be able to contact your local congressman to expedite your hearing. To do this, you must explain the severity of your situation. If your congressman believes that your circumstances are severe, he or she will attempt to intervene with the ODAR on your behalf. Your local congressman can be contacted at:
2041 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.
Suite 238
Washington, DC 20020
Telephone: (202) 678-8900
If you would like a free legal consultation with a Washington D.C. Social Security attorney, fill out the form on this page.
